1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to floor care appliances and, more particularly, relates to an upper fill tube configuration for a vacuum cleaner.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Vacuum cleaners are known which have an upper fill tube arrangement for feeding dirty air to a receptacle, this fill tube, in some manner, being confluently connected to a tube, generally flexible, extending upwardly from the cleaner foot. These two members necessarily must be attached together and a variety of clamps and latches have been utilized but heretofore it has now been known to latchably connect a rigid upper fill tube with a flexible tube of the cleaner inserted within it.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to attach, in a vacuum cleaner, an outer rigid upper fill tube with an inner flexible tube in a releasable manner and to utilize a latching arrangement, partly carried by the flexible tube and partly carried by the rigid upper fill tube to accomplish this.
It is a further object of the invention to include a flexible tube adapter that captivates the flexible tube and directly carries a part of the latch for engagement with the latch part of the rigid upper fill tube.
It is a still further object of the invention to make the adapter from resilient plastic so it may be partially deformed for release of the flexible tube from the rigid upper fill tube.
It is an even further object of the invention to provide a tapered adapter tube that extends above the bellows and bellows adapter to serve as a lead in for cleaner air to the rigid upper fill tube.
It is an even further object of the invention to provide a new and improved upper fill tube configuration.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide an upper fill tube configuration that is easy to assemble and disassemble.